Daniel’s face drained of color.
“It’s a deepfake!” he screamed, backing toward the private elevator. “She’s an imposter! Arrest her!”
The security guards didn’t move. My gold founder’s badge still glowed on the lobby scanner, locking them out of the system.
Realizing he had no backup, Daniel lunged forward. He drew a concealed pistol from his jacket and grabbed Vanessa by the hair, pressing the barrel to her neck.
“Unlock the doors, Elena!” he barked, dragging a sobbing Vanessa backward. “Or your manager dies, and I leave on the roof helicopter!”
I didn’t flinch. I just smiled through my bloody teeth.
“You think I walked six miles through freezing rain just to expose you?” I whispered.
I tapped the gold badge against the scanner a second time.
*BEEP.*
The lobby screens shifted from the video footage to a live bank ledger. It was Daniel’s offshore accounts—the massive slush funds he built using his illegal land deals.
The numbers spun backward at blinding speed. Draining. Transferring to the Somor Family Trust.
“The Cayman accounts required dual authorization,” I said, stepping slowly toward his trembling gun. “You killed my mother to get her keys, and you tried to kill me for mine. But you missed a detail, Daniel.”
His phone buzzed violently in his pocket.
“The master biometric lock wasn’t tied to her,” I said coldly. “It was tied to me.”
On the massive screens above us, his final balance flashed: **$0.00**.
“I didn’t come here to fire you. I came here to ruin you.”
The shock broke his focus for a microsecond. Vanessa violently elbowed his ribs. Daniel stumbled, dropping the gun. Before it even hit the marble floor, six guards tackled him.
I walked over, retrieved my mother’s silver bracelet from his jacket pocket, and fastened it to my wrist.
Then I looked at the lead guard.
“Get this nobody out of my resort.”